We flew into Chiang Mai in another crash free Laos Airlines flight (I don't know what we were worried about!). A quick taxi trip into town and we checked in at our guest house. We took the chance to have a quick look around, Lianne was most excited about the really nice coffee houses we found!
That evening we took our first (of many) visits to the night bazaar to stock up on hookey DVDs, T shirts, watches, shoes, etc... We also indulged an urge by having the first Big Mac we'd had for 4 weeks!
The next day we planned on walking around the old town and visiting the temples and other sights. However, once we'd got up and had breakfast we just couldn't face it! I think we were a bit travel weary so instead we went to the Mall, looked at some shops, had Pizza Hut for lunch and then went to see Ocean's 13. The cinema in Thailand was entertaining as at the beginning they ask you to stand in honour of the king and then play the national anthem. You don't get that at the local cinema at home! That evening we arranged our Hill Trekking for the next day which was going to be a lot more energetic than today!
Next morning we packed a small overnight bag each and were picked up by our guide in a covered truck with two bench seats in the back. It was just us and another Canadian couple, Norman and Jill. We drove for a couple of hours and arrived at small village in the hills about 100km or so from Chiang Mai. At one point in the journey the heavens just opened and torrential rain came down, the truck had open sides so we got a bit wet at this point but it didn't last too long.
We had lunch then got given life jackets (for tomorrows rafting) and then jumped in the back of the truck. Just 15 minutes down the road this time, until the track became too muddy for the truck to proceed, then we jumped out and started walking.
It was pretty hot, mid 30s probably, and it was sweaty work walking along. We started off along a road, stopping at a couple of small villages (well a couple of grass and wooden huts each). At one we met a guy who makes home made guns to sell at the market. They are old-school breech loading guns that look like something from the American revolution (but I still wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of it). Shortly after this stop we turned off the road and started to walk cross country. There was plenty of up and down to the walking and we were all very, very sweaty as we progressed. It was about a 3 hour walk to our destination which was a small hill tribe village of about 11 families.
The village is very isolated with the walk that we had just done the only practical way to get in and out of the place.
Once we had stopped the four of us grabbed a warm beer (civilized enough to have beer, not enough to have ice) and wandered down to the river to cool off our feet.
Our guide was cooking dinner for us and as we waited for it we had the now expected hard sell from the locals trying to get us to buy some of their locally made goods.
Dinner was good with a curry, stir fry and lots of rice to fill us up. That night we spent in one of the bamboo buildings sleeping on very thin mattresses under mosquito netting.
The next morning we woke up and had breakfast waiting for the next part of the adventure, and sure enough they soon arrived walking down the river. We were going elephant trecking.
Norman and Jill were on one, with the guide, and we were on another behind. Lianne was looking forward to riding on the elephants but was also terrified of the things, especially when getting on (which involves the elephant walking up to a platform and then you step on its head and then on to a platform strapped to its back). We rode them for an hour up along the river and then back down the river itself. Great fun.
After that we were then going bamboo rafting, which involves riding a raft constructed out of about a dozen large pieces of bamboo all lashed together. At a distance it didn't look that sturdy and to be honest it didn't look much better close up. But it did the job and was very stable as we rode back down the river to where we started. It was great fun riding over the small rapids as the water splashed around our legs.
After that we had lunch and then headed off home via a waterfall on the way. It was a great couple of days with a rewarding walk through some great scenary and lots of fun on the way back made all the better with a great couple to share it with.
We met up with Norman and Jill later for a quiet drink, however the drinking was far from quiet and we made it back to our hotel at 2am after watching Lewis win the F1 and a few games of air hockey and pool.
The next day started at about noon due to the previous nights excesses and didn't really get going after that! We made another visit to the night markets to finish up all our shopping and then headed to bed, for the last time on our holiday.
The next day we were off to Singapore ready to catch our flight back to the UK.
We're writing this from Singapore airport and we have to dash off to board our plane. To everyone in the UK, we'll see you soon; to those in NZ, all the best and stay in touch!
Tony & Lianne aka Foxy & Shirlz!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Luang Prabang
We got a minivan to Luang Prabang which is about 180km north of Vang Vieng. It was an extremely narrow winding road that just goes through the hills. It took about 5 hours of driving but was worth spending the extra dollar for the minivan that the bus as this would have taken a few hours longer. The only thing that we ever saw in the five hours were small villages built along the side of the road. Most buildings were built with wood/bamboo and had thatched roofs. The funniest thing was then counting the number of satellite dishes that were in these villages to get cable TV!!
We got to Luang Prabang, found a small cheap guesthouse and just went for a bit of a walk. It is a really pretty town and once again very quiet. You don't get bothered by anybody on the street trying to sell you things or ask for money. Luang Prabang is situated on the Mekong River and is preserved with it's French and Asian influences as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is surrounded by mountains and is a really beautiful setting. The first night we went to one of the many restaurants along the Mekong River for a very cheap meal and bottle of beer.
The following day we decided to go to the Pak Ou caves by slow boat. T
his took a couple of hours and we stopped off at a couple of the local riverside villages on the way. One specialised in whisky making (we declined to try any at 10am!!) and one in paper making. Everyone there also sells all of the silk scarves and materials also that Laos is famous for. The Pak Ou caves are a Buddhist pilgrimage site and situated inside the caves are over 4000 Buddha images that have been placed inside them. There were only 3 other people on our boat who were really lovely and once back in town we had a late lunch with them. We had a very relaxing afternoon which included walking around some of the town looking at some of the wats around, and then dinner before an early night.
his took a couple of hours and we stopped off at a couple of the local riverside villages on the way. One specialised in whisky making (we declined to try any at 10am!!) and one in paper making. Everyone there also sells all of the silk scarves and materials also that Laos is famous for. The Pak Ou caves are a Buddhist pilgrimage site and situated inside the caves are over 4000 Buddha images that have been placed inside them. There were only 3 other people on our boat who were really lovely and once back in town we had a late lunch with them. We had a very relaxing afternoon which included walking around some of the town looking at some of the wats around, and then dinner before an early night.The next morning we set out alarms early (5.40am is early when you are
on holiday!!) and ventured all of the way to the end of the driveway of the guesthouse. We had heard about the monks alms giving and wanted to experience it first hand. There are many wats in Luang Prabang (all of Laos and south east Asia really) that have many monks living in them. Every morning the monks do their rounds in Luang Prabang and the locals come out and give them rice. It was quite an amazing experience to watch.
on holiday!!) and ventured all of the way to the end of the driveway of the guesthouse. We had heard about the monks alms giving and wanted to experience it first hand. There are many wats in Luang Prabang (all of Laos and south east Asia really) that have many monks living in them. Every morning the monks do their rounds in Luang Prabang and the locals come out and give them rice. It was quite an amazing experience to watch.That morning we hired bicycles and cycled around much of the town and visited about 8 of the wats we hadn't been to the night before. One of the highlights was when one of the young monks decided to come and practice his English and chatted to us for about 10 minutes. He was absolutely lovely and his English was very good. Later that afternoon we went in a minivan to visit the Kuang Si waterfalls. These were a series of waterfalls that were quite stunning. One of the best bits is that you can swim in a couple of the waterfall pools and it was cold!! The water was actually cold (the first time we had had that feeling since we had started travelling I think). At the bottom of the waterfalls was a black bear rescue centre where there were quite a few bears in a really large area with lots of stimulation. They had been rescued from poachers which is still a big problem in Laos. There was also a tiger that had been rescued when it was 4 days old after it's mother had been killed and it had been sold on the black market. It is now about 2 years old and an absolutely beautiful creature.
That evening we headed up the citadel hill for the views over the city and then dinner. We also had a look around the markets that get set up each evening around the town streets by the local tribes selling their goods. It has been really nice to have been in Laos for the last week where it has definitely been a change of pace and much more relaxed. We now head back to Thailand to Chiang Mai which is the last stop for us...
Vang Vieng
We caught a bus from Vientiane to Vang Vieng which is about 150km north. It was a really pleasant drive, even if the bus didn't have air conditioning. Vang Vieng was a bit of a one horse town. It was very quiet and they base the town around 'adventure tourism'. If you want to you can go caving, white water rafting, mountain biking etc etc. I'm not sure what the health and safety criteria are for the companies that run these tours, however my suspicions are that they are non existent.
We only had one day in Vang Vieng so decided to do what just about every
body does, and go tubing. This involves getting driven in a tuk-tuk about 4km out of the centre of Vang Vieng and getting dropped off at the side of the river with an old tractor tyre inner tube. You just launch into the river and leisurely spend the next 3-4 hours getting back to town. It was quite nice and slow going with a couple of minor 'rapids'. There are bar/restaurants on the way down the river that will pull you in with big poles if you want to stop. We stopped at one for a snack towards the end which was quite cool. They all have big swings and jumps into the river that you can do also. Lianne did a swing/jump one from about 8m which was quite scary whilst Tony decided that he would just hold the inner tube to prevent it from floating away.
body does, and go tubing. This involves getting driven in a tuk-tuk about 4km out of the centre of Vang Vieng and getting dropped off at the side of the river with an old tractor tyre inner tube. You just launch into the river and leisurely spend the next 3-4 hours getting back to town. It was quite nice and slow going with a couple of minor 'rapids'. There are bar/restaurants on the way down the river that will pull you in with big poles if you want to stop. We stopped at one for a snack towards the end which was quite cool. They all have big swings and jumps into the river that you can do also. Lianne did a swing/jump one from about 8m which was quite scary whilst Tony decided that he would just hold the inner tube to prevent it from floating away.That night we just had dinner at one of the restaurants. This is a bit of an attraction in itself in Vang Vieng with many of the restaurants set up with TV's that blare out 'Friends'. You can just wander around and decide which series/episode you want to watch and lie down at the tables with the pillows provided. It is quite bizarre watching one episode whilst being able to hear another 4 getting played round you.
Neither of our nights in Vang Vieng was late as we had TV in our guest house and could watch the two singles finals of the French open tennis. This was quite good, even if the commentary was in Laos!!.
After a fleeting visit, our next stop was to be the World Heritage City of Luang Prabang...
Vientiane
We were in two minds about whether or not to visit Laos, as we were tight on time and we'd heard that there's really not that much to see or do there. In the end we decided to go, and we're both glad we did.We flew Laos airlines from Hanoi to Vientiane which made us a bit nervous as our guidebook strongly advises against flying on them due to their poor safety record. As you can see, it all turned out fine. Getting a visa for Laos was the easiest so far, they issue a 15 day visa on arrival at the airport for US$30 which took 5 minutes.
Vientiane is a very small city, much quieter than the bug bustling cities that we had become used to in Asia. We checked into a guesthouse and took a quick look around.
The place is so much more basic than we had become accustomed too, but the best part was that we were no longer constantly hassled to buy things or ride on a moto or tuk-tuk. It was such a relief we instantly took a like to the place.
For dinner that night we sat out at one of the "cafes" overlooking the Mekong and had a beer and a bite to eat. I say "cafe", but it was really just a few plastic chairs and tables on a patch of dirt next to the river. The whole length of the Mekong waterfront is filled with cafes like this and it is a very pleasant and cheap way to spend the evening as the sun goes down.
The next day we hired a couple of bicycles and rode them around town. I think that it is testament to the tranquility of Vientiane that we considered hiring bikes, we wouldn't have contemplated it in Hanoi!
We rode out along Lane Xang Avenue to the Patuxay, which are the Laos equivalents of the Champs-Elysee and Arc de Triomphe respectively.
We cycled on to Pha That Luang which is a beautiful temple and the national symbol of Laos. It is surrounded by a number of other temples and old buildings and the area looks stunning.We spent the rest of the day on our bikes exploring the other temples and buildings of the city. As I said it is a small place so easily manageable on a bike or even on foot.
One of the other things we liked about this place is that it seems to punch above it's size in terms of the restaurants it has to offer. We had a fantastic curry here and we discovered a great cafe that did awesome bacon and egg bagels and the best cup of tea we'd had since New Zealand!
I think one day was enough to see most of what was on offer in Vientiane but we enjoyed our time here. The next day we were on the bus again, off to Vang Viang.
Ha Long Bay
So, it started on a great note when we had a lovely air conditioned mini bus from Hanoi all the way to Ha Long Bay with only us and one other couple in!! This is almost unheard of as they normally cram everyone in like sardines. After a very pleasant 4 hour drive we arrived at the pier to catch our boat but ended up waiting for a bit. We finally got onto our correct boat and had a lovely lunch of rice, fish, meat, french fries, and cucumber salad (all meals are included in our 2 night 3 day cruise).
We set sail and cruised along on our lovely old wooden boat out into the bay. Ha Long Bay is a huge area which consists of over 2000 limestone islands jutting up out of the sea. It is absolutely stunning scenery.
There were about 16 people on our tour, most of whom were really nice, especially a lovely family with 2 kids from Ireland that we spent most of our time with.
Our first port of call was a couple of grottoes with lots of stalactites and stalagmites. it was extremely hot so quite nice to be in a cave where it was quite cool. We then headed a bit further afield and visited a floating village. At this point we did some kayaking around some of the islands and the village. This should have been one of the highlights, however, The Foxes were having a few issues (navigational, motivational, and matrimonial!!). It nearly ended in divorce, but after a nice swim in the sea to cool down it was all back to normal.
We then anchored down for the evening and had a lovely dinner of rice, fish, meat, french fries, and cucumber salad (we were starting to see a pattern). People from the floating village row out in small boats and visit the big boats with all of the tourists on selling everything you can think of. We bought a few beers (our Irish friends were the best hagglers finally getting 13 very big beers for about NZ$8). We all sat up on the roof of the boat and had a few drinks. We did not want to be downstairs as firstly our generator was not working so we did not have any power/lights, and then when it finally got going, our guide and the crew were all downstairs singing Vietnamese karaoke which we definitely did not want to be a part of. Up on deck it was an amazing sight with many other boats floating round and a lightning storm happening quite a way away for a couple of hours made it look like fireworks.
We turned in for a pretty early night to our cabin. It was ok, but very hot and a few small cockroaches to keep us company.
The next day we awoke to find that the storm had arrived and it was torrential rain. Tony and I were doing an extra day than everyone else on the boat so we got dropped off at Cat Ba Island which is where were staying in a hotel for the second night. There was a possibility of doing a hike through the jungle, however in our Lonely Planet it said it was a difficult 6 hour trek, and it was pouring with rain. Instead we booked into the hotel and watched our cable TV!! When it had stopped raining we headed out for a lovely lunch on board a floating restaurant. You guessed it, rice, fish, meat, french fries, and damned cucumber salad!!! Our guide was now only for the two of us (he was a bit young and enthusiastic for our liking) and he informed us that the next activity of the day was kayaking. We looked at each other, took a big breath, and got into the kayak. We didn't have to go but due to the previous day's effort we thought we should try again. This time was much better and we had a good look around another floating village with lots of fish farms, pet dogs, and even petrol stations all on the water. We then paddled to a secluded beach where we were the only ones and read our books. It was so nice to actually have a beach all to ourselves.
We eventually headed back to the hotel and had a small wander around town to explore. After dinner (the same as usual!!) we went to our room as we had cable TV and the French Open was on. The next day we headed back on the boat to the mainland and had lunch (Tony didn't hardly eat anything here as he couldn't face it yet again!!), and headed back to Hanoi in the minivan.
Ha Long Bay was absolutely magnificent scenery and we had a great time. After one night in Hanoi we were off to Laos...
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Hanoi
The flight from Da Nang airport to Hanoi was wonderful, after weeks of travelling on trains and buses it was a joy to get on a plane. It was a brand new Airbus A320 and we had exit isle seats. We felt like royalty.
When we got to Hanoi airport we decided to take the cheap option of catching the 5000 dong bus (US$0.40) instead of the expensive US$2 shuttle bus. This was fine, except it dropped us off at some random bus stop vaguely in the centre of Hanoi. After walking for 20 minutes we decided that we were miles away from where we wanted to be and hailed a taxi, which then drove the long way to where we wanted to go and ended up costing more than the shuttle. We were pretty grumpy with the taxi driver and ended up paying him less than what the meter said, and walking off in a huff.
We found ourselves an OK hotel to stay in and grabbed a bite to eat.
The next day we went exploring around Hanoi and found that there isn't actually that much to see. We had a look around the old quarter, where we were staying, which is full of narrow streets full of traders. Interestingly each street seems to have it's own trade and every shop in the street does the same thing. There's a metal work street, a paper street, a toy street, etc... very odd.
We then went for a walk around the lake in the centre of Hanoi and a quick bite to eat.
Hanoi is a typical busy Asian city with cars, bikes, scooters and motorbikes everywhere. Crossing the road involves picking a spot in the traffic where it is slightly less busy and then slowly walking across the road at a steady pace. Closing your eyes helps. The vehicles will then just drive around you. On no account stop, as this is the last thing anyone expects and will probably result in an accident!
The next day we went on a day trip to Tam Coc. We were the youngest on the mini bus by far!!! It was a really nice day though with the highlight being a 2 hour row down the river marvelling at the scenery. Basically Tam Coc is a river running through the rice paddy fields with huge limestone rocks jutting out of the ground. We were a bit worried at one stage as the man rowing our boat stopped (conveniently half way through and at the farthest point of where we needed to end up) and his wife proceeded to try and sell us things. She showed us bags, tea towels, even embroided tablecloths at which we gave our standard reply of "no thank you". there was a little bit of a stand off with no rowing, and no purchasing, but we finally gave in and purchased a pack of 10 postcards for $1. They were pretty dark with us but at least we made it back to the end! The other interesting thing from the day was looking at the locals at various stages of their rice crop production. We saw people in the fields harvesting, right through to seeing the rice drying out on the side of the road. You think there would be somewhere better for them to do this as we saw people, chickens, and even dogs walking through the rice. I just hope a lot of processing goes into it all after this!.
We spent the next day in Hanoi again where we got out of bed early to go and see Ho Chi Minh.
'Uncle Ho' as Vietnamese people call him, has been preserved, and his actual body lies in a mausoleum in Hanoi that people can visit. There was the biggest queue I have ever seen to do this, with most being Vietnamese people who have made the trip. The line moved fairly quickly, luckily for Tony as he had a little old Vietnamese lady behind him who came up to the middle of his back. She literally stood 1mm from him and I think she was a bit excited about seeing 'Uncle Ho' as she even started pushing him at one stage. At least it made the time pass quickly giggling and playing games about how to inch forward in the queue. The body is amazingly preserved and it looks just like he is sleeping. We later went to the Ho Chi Minh Museum which is on the same grounds, although didn't really get much seeing as it was all in Vietnamese, and visited his old home (not that impressive either).
That evening we went to see the water puppets (which is just one of the things you do when you are in Hanoi). It's a puppet show performed in waist high water with the puppeteers hidden behind a screen and the poles the puppets are on hidden in the water. The whole thing was narrated in Vietnamese which made it a little hard to follow, but it was entertaining enough and worth every one of the two dollars it cost to go.
The next day we headed off for a three day trip to Ha Long Bay...
Friday, June 8, 2007
Hoi An
The train trip to Da Nang (nearest train station to Hoi An) was relatively smooth. Left at 9pm and arrived at 5.30am. It was a 'hard sleeper' and was in a cabin of 6 and despite the name, the beds were very comfy and we both had a good sleep. After walking around Da Nang for about an hour looking for the bus station, we finally boarded a bus to Hoi An, about 30 km away.
Hoi An is a beautiful old town with a mixture of French and Chinese influenced architecture and is situated on the Thu Bon River but is still only 6km away from the beach. We were absolutely shocked to find that Hoi An was relatively quiet, you were able to walk down the middle of the main street during the day without a car in site at times. Also, there has recently been a crack down on local touts so we were pretty much left alone for a couple of days from the stress of telling everybody "no thank you".
We decided to splash out and spent US$12 on a room but buffet breakfast and a swimming pool were all included, as was a huge air conditioned room with cable TV!
Hoi An is a beautiful old town with a mixture of French and Chinese influenced architecture and is situated on the Thu Bon River but is still only 6km away from the beach. We were absolutely shocked to find that Hoi An was relatively quiet, you were able to walk down the middle of the main street during the day without a car in site at times. Also, there has recently been a crack down on local touts so we were pretty much left alone for a couple of days from the stress of telling everybody "no thank you".We spent much of the first day just wandering around and exploring and managed to find the most amazing cafe with a French style patisserie. We made the most of this over the next three days, going back every single day to try something new. If you ever go to Hoi An go to the Cargo Club and have chocolate truffle cake on the balcony.
We had heard that Hoi An was the city of tailors and it definitely was the most common feature. There were literally streets with 10 tailor shops in a row. We decided to get a few things made with mixed results. The simple things that were made right the first time were good and cheap, however if it was a bit more complicated or they didn't get it exact the first time, it all started to go a bit wrong. Over the next few days we spent far too much time and energy at the tailor shops arguing about if an item fitted correctly or looked the way it should.
We tried to put this aside and enjoy the rest of the time, which we did. We hired bicycles and went to the beach but only spent about 30 secs in the water as I have never seen so many jellyfish in my life!!! Despite this, it was stunning white sands and crystal clear blue water. Apparently the 30km coastline between Hoi An and Da Nang is exactly like this and nearly nobody on the beach!! We also went on a walking tour and studied some of the architecture and buildings, and we definitely made the most of the swimming pool at the hotel which passed some time.
We bought a painting at one of the art shops in Hoi An, and when we got back to the hotel with it all packaged up, the guy behind the reception desk noticed and asked if we liked art work. I misunderstood his dialect of English and assumed he was trying to sell me something (like every other Vietnamese we've met) as he was waving a flax woven tube at me. We fobbed him off but no less than 10secs of getting to the room, there was a knock at the door. It was 'Mr Krazy' (that was what he said his name was) and instead of actually trying to sell us something he was giving us 2 more paintings for free that somebody else had left behind. He was being extremely nice and altruistic. If your last name is Johnstone, you are Australian, stayed in Rm 311 at the Than Binh 2 Hotel, and left 2 paintings behind when you checked out, we have your goods!!
We were heading on to Hanoi next and decided we couldn't face a 16hour train journey so splashed out on a flight.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Nha Trang
We arrived in Nha Trang first thing in the morning. The overnight buses aren't a barrel of laughs, but they're not to bad either, we got a bit of sleep and we arrive early enough to get a couple of hours in the hotel once we'd checked in.
Nha Trang is the Vietnamese version of Sihanoukville, or the Gold Coast, or Blackpool. It's a beach resort that a lot of Vietnamese and foreigners go to.
To wake myself up I went for a swim on the way to lunch and was pleasantly surprised to find that the water was actually cold (well, for a couple of minutes anyway). It was the first time in a month that I'd actually been cold and it was great.
We relaxed around town that day with another swim later on and a very lazy evening.
The next day I went scuba diving and Lianne went snorkeling. We went out on a boat to some of the small islands off the coast. Diving was OK, but vis was only about 5 metres and there wasn't much to look at. Good to get back in the water though. Lianne enjoyed her snorkeling because she spent most of the hottest part of the day in the water. And the lunch was really nice.
The next day we were planning on a trip to monkey island but Lianne was feeling sick so we rescheduled it to the following day and lazed around for the day with another trip to the beach. That evening we tracked down a bar that was showing the Monaco Grand Prix and watched that for a couple of hours with EJ and Craig, another couple with common interests in travelling and F1.
The next day we went on our rescheduled trip out to some of the islands and it was a truly bizarre experience. We started off with the guide singing a Vietnamese song and then a boat trip out to the first island where we fed the Ostriches and Deer. We were only there 20 minutes before we were back on the boat to the second stop. Here you had the opportunity to ride an Ostrich or an Elephant (which we declined both).
We then saw a truly bizarre elephant and bear show. We never thought we'd see a bear in a tutu riding a bicycle, let alone a moped. It was all quite disturbing.
We went for a swim then to cool down and to wash off some of the bizarreness.
After lunch we headed off to what was meant to be the highlight of the trip (for Lianne at least) - Monkey island.
Once we arrived we were taken to another show, which topped the first one in terms of weirdness.
Let me put it like this, the show opened with two goats, in a carriage, dressed as a bride and groom, being pulled by dogs with monkeys on their backs. We both spent the entire show with our jaws dropped. It was like driving past a car accident.
After the show ended we got our chance to go see the monkeys in the wild, which was the bit that Lianne was most looking forward to. However once we got there and we found ourselves surrounded by dozens of monkeys all jumping around and looking for food Lianne got quite scared and didn't really want to touch them (or them touch her). We've heard that Monkey bites are a fairly reliable source of rabies so that didn't help either.
Back to the mainland (and not too soon, truth be told) and we had about 4 hours to kill before our next over night train journey. We'd checked out of our hotel so didn't have anywhere to shower, however we had a plan. We grabbed a change of clothes and a towel, threw them in a bag and then strolled into the nearest hotel with a pool. It was one of the nicer hotels in town, but we were confident that the staff wouldn't be able to tell we weren't guests there (we all look the same you see). A quick dip in the pool and the use of their shower and we were sorted.
A bite to eat and a taxi to the train station and we were ready to go to Hoi An...
Nha Trang is the Vietnamese version of Sihanoukville, or the Gold Coast, or Blackpool. It's a beach resort that a lot of Vietnamese and foreigners go to.
To wake myself up I went for a swim on the way to lunch and was pleasantly surprised to find that the water was actually cold (well, for a couple of minutes anyway). It was the first time in a month that I'd actually been cold and it was great.
We relaxed around town that day with another swim later on and a very lazy evening.
The next day I went scuba diving and Lianne went snorkeling. We went out on a boat to some of the small islands off the coast. Diving was OK, but vis was only about 5 metres and there wasn't much to look at. Good to get back in the water though. Lianne enjoyed her snorkeling because she spent most of the hottest part of the day in the water. And the lunch was really nice.
The next day we were planning on a trip to monkey island but Lianne was feeling sick so we rescheduled it to the following day and lazed around for the day with another trip to the beach. That evening we tracked down a bar that was showing the Monaco Grand Prix and watched that for a couple of hours with EJ and Craig, another couple with common interests in travelling and F1.
The next day we went on our rescheduled trip out to some of the islands and it was a truly bizarre experience. We started off with the guide singing a Vietnamese song and then a boat trip out to the first island where we fed the Ostriches and Deer. We were only there 20 minutes before we were back on the boat to the second stop. Here you had the opportunity to ride an Ostrich or an Elephant (which we declined both).
We then saw a truly bizarre elephant and bear show. We never thought we'd see a bear in a tutu riding a bicycle, let alone a moped. It was all quite disturbing.We went for a swim then to cool down and to wash off some of the bizarreness.
After lunch we headed off to what was meant to be the highlight of the trip (for Lianne at least) - Monkey island.
Once we arrived we were taken to another show, which topped the first one in terms of weirdness.
Let me put it like this, the show opened with two goats, in a carriage, dressed as a bride and groom, being pulled by dogs with monkeys on their backs. We both spent the entire show with our jaws dropped. It was like driving past a car accident.
After the show ended we got our chance to go see the monkeys in the wild, which was the bit that Lianne was most looking forward to. However once we got there and we found ourselves surrounded by dozens of monkeys all jumping around and looking for food Lianne got quite scared and didn't really want to touch them (or them touch her). We've heard that Monkey bites are a fairly reliable source of rabies so that didn't help either.
Back to the mainland (and not too soon, truth be told) and we had about 4 hours to kill before our next over night train journey. We'd checked out of our hotel so didn't have anywhere to shower, however we had a plan. We grabbed a change of clothes and a towel, threw them in a bag and then strolled into the nearest hotel with a pool. It was one of the nicer hotels in town, but we were confident that the staff wouldn't be able to tell we weren't guests there (we all look the same you see). A quick dip in the pool and the use of their shower and we were sorted.
A bite to eat and a taxi to the train station and we were ready to go to Hoi An...
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Ho Chi Minh City
The journey from Phenom Penh was surprisingly effortless, the bus wasn't great, but again it was a real bargain (only $6) and we left early morning and arrived mid afternoon after going through customs at the Vietnam/Cambodia border.
The bus dropped us off in the cheap hotel area of town. We wandered around looking at a variety of places until we found somewhere for $8/night in the oh so amusingly named "Dung Hotel". We still laugh about it now.
The next day we went exploring around the centre of town. Somewhat confusingly the larger city is called Ho Chi Minh City, however the central region is still called Saigon. Walking around is quite a challenge as you are constantly being hassled by street traders trying to get you to take a ride on their motos, or selling you books, sun glasses or whatever else they have. Whether you are walking down the street or sitting in a restaurant having your dinner you seem to be fair game! It's hard to cope with this constant onslaught and on one or two occasions I told the exactly where to stick their chewing gum. Now, deep breaths, count to ten...
We took a look in the Ho Chi Minh museum (one of a number that contains information about the war). All of the museums are (understandably) quite biased and anti-American. But it's interesting to get a non-western slant on things.
The next day Lianne got her wish and we went to one of the three big water parks in HCMC. Lots of big slides and chutes, etc, etc... I think she enjoyed herself at least.
That evening we went to the Rex hotel garden bar up on the 6th floor with views across one of the boulevards (Vietnam was under French control until 1954 and it has a slight French feel to the place). We had a couple of 'expensive' drinks (still only $6 for two) and watched the world go by.
We had planned to leave by train up north to Nha Trang, but we couldn't get a booking so a nice overnight bus was the alternative. That was due to leave at about 7:30pm so we had the day to wander around. We went for a walk along the 'waterfront', which I thought would be nice but was actually a 3m high metal fence for most of the way, not very picturesque at all!
On our way to (another) museum Lianne noticed a sign for a badminton tournament that was being held. It was sponsored by a company called "Robot", so it was the "Robot Badminton Challenge". Lianne's a bit dumb so thought it was robots playing badminton! (It's true, she did). Wanting to see some robot badminton players we wandered into the hotel where we discovered that it was only people playing, however Lianne knew a few of them and called one of them (Tracey Hallam) up. She popped down for a quick drink but couldn't stay for long as she was playing latter that afternoon. Lianne decided she'd like to go see her play so we wandered down the road to where the games were being played. After bluffing our way in without paying (we were both players and we left our passes in the hotel) we watched a couple of games and chatted to a few of the players. Lianne was very happy with herself for this.
The museum we went to before watching the badminton was the "War Remnants Museum", this had some very graphic displays on the impact the war had on the Vietnam, in particularly the impact of Agent Orange on the locals.
After spending a day wandering around in the sweltering heat (had I mentioned it's hot here), we were both good and sweaty. The perfect way to start a 12 hour bus trip...
The bus dropped us off in the cheap hotel area of town. We wandered around looking at a variety of places until we found somewhere for $8/night in the oh so amusingly named "Dung Hotel". We still laugh about it now.
The next day we went exploring around the centre of town. Somewhat confusingly the larger city is called Ho Chi Minh City, however the central region is still called Saigon. Walking around is quite a challenge as you are constantly being hassled by street traders trying to get you to take a ride on their motos, or selling you books, sun glasses or whatever else they have. Whether you are walking down the street or sitting in a restaurant having your dinner you seem to be fair game! It's hard to cope with this constant onslaught and on one or two occasions I told the exactly where to stick their chewing gum. Now, deep breaths, count to ten...We took a look in the Ho Chi Minh museum (one of a number that contains information about the war). All of the museums are (understandably) quite biased and anti-American. But it's interesting to get a non-western slant on things.
The next day Lianne got her wish and we went to one of the three big water parks in HCMC. Lots of big slides and chutes, etc, etc... I think she enjoyed herself at least.That evening we went to the Rex hotel garden bar up on the 6th floor with views across one of the boulevards (Vietnam was under French control until 1954 and it has a slight French feel to the place). We had a couple of 'expensive' drinks (still only $6 for two) and watched the world go by.
We had planned to leave by train up north to Nha Trang, but we couldn't get a booking so a nice overnight bus was the alternative. That was due to leave at about 7:30pm so we had the day to wander around. We went for a walk along the 'waterfront', which I thought would be nice but was actually a 3m high metal fence for most of the way, not very picturesque at all!
On our way to (another) museum Lianne noticed a sign for a badminton tournament that was being held. It was sponsored by a company called "Robot", so it was the "Robot Badminton Challenge". Lianne's a bit dumb so thought it was robots playing badminton! (It's true, she did). Wanting to see some robot badminton players we wandered into the hotel where we discovered that it was only people playing, however Lianne knew a few of them and called one of them (Tracey Hallam) up. She popped down for a quick drink but couldn't stay for long as she was playing latter that afternoon. Lianne decided she'd like to go see her play so we wandered down the road to where the games were being played. After bluffing our way in without paying (we were both players and we left our passes in the hotel) we watched a couple of games and chatted to a few of the players. Lianne was very happy with herself for this.
The museum we went to before watching the badminton was the "War Remnants Museum", this had some very graphic displays on the impact the war had on the Vietnam, in particularly the impact of Agent Orange on the locals.
After spending a day wandering around in the sweltering heat (had I mentioned it's hot here), we were both good and sweaty. The perfect way to start a 12 hour bus trip...
Sihanoukville
After a relatively easy (and cheap at $4) coach trip we arrived at Sihanoukville, Cambodia's main beach destination. We were, as usual, mobbed as we got off the bus, however one very polite westerner gave us a leaflet for some accommodation. It sounded like a good deal, close to the beach so we jumped on a tuk-tuk and headed there.
The place was run by a couple of guys from Cambridge, very friendly and bungalows were $6/night so we couldn't complain. They also had a free pool table, good food and a room for viewing a large collection of DVDs.
We spent the next couple of days either in the hotel, or at the beach. We had to be quite selective about when we went to the beach, either first thing in the morning or about 5 o'clock at night were acceptable, any time between that it was just too hot. The beach was amazing; fine white sand and clear blue waters.We had a great time here, but haven't really got anything to say about it as all we did was eat, drink, swim and lounge around. It was a great couple of days though, that we thoroughly enjoyed.
We then headed back to Phnom Penh and then on to Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is a lot nicer than we expected. After the craziness of Bangkok we were expecting something similar here but it's actually quite relaxed. The driving is controlled chaos, with people driving on the wrong side of the road and ignoring traffic lights, but everyone does it, they all go slow and there's no aggression; it seems to be more relaxed than driving round Auckland.
On the first day here we went to Wat Phnom, a temple in downtown Phnom Penh. The best thing about this place was the cute little monkey sitting outside doing some gardening (Lianne has a thing for monkeys). Then on to the national museum where we saw some statues mainly from the Angkor temples, which is where we have just come from so it was something we could relate to.
We also went to the Genocide Museum which is at a school that was converted into a prison by the Khmer Rouge and used to hold and torture political prisoners. It was powerful stuff and a little bit depressing but it's good to learn about these things. You can read more about Cambodia under Pol Pot here.
The next day we went to the silver pagoda at the royal palace. The silver pagoda is so called because the floor is covered with thousands of solid silver tiles, although they looked and felt more like tin to us, but what do we know. We also saw a solid gold Buddha, but it was no where near as good as the last solid gold Buddha that we saw (maybe we are getting to used to these things!).
That afternoon I got to play Rambo. We went out to a shooting range about 30km outside of town and got to fire an AK47 and then after that a 9mm. It was all over pretty quickly as 30 round for an AK47 cost $30 and the handgun was another $15 to fire. There was no mucking about either, after a 45 minute drive you arrive and then give you a menu, from $12 for one of the handguns to $200 for a rocket launcher(!). You point at one, they pick up the gun and one of the many magazines lying around in boxes. You then walk to the range shoot it and your done; no talking. I've not spent money so fast since I last went to Sky City.
After a couple of days in Phnom Penh it was time for a trip to the beach so the next morning we headed south to Sihanoukville, just a little bit nervous of the journey...
On the first day here we went to Wat Phnom, a temple in downtown Phnom Penh. The best thing about this place was the cute little monkey sitting outside doing some gardening (Lianne has a thing for monkeys). Then on to the national museum where we saw some statues mainly from the Angkor temples, which is where we have just come from so it was something we could relate to.
We also went to the Genocide Museum which is at a school that was converted into a prison by the Khmer Rouge and used to hold and torture political prisoners. It was powerful stuff and a little bit depressing but it's good to learn about these things. You can read more about Cambodia under Pol Pot here.
The next day we went to the silver pagoda at the royal palace. The silver pagoda is so called because the floor is covered with thousands of solid silver tiles, although they looked and felt more like tin to us, but what do we know. We also saw a solid gold Buddha, but it was no where near as good as the last solid gold Buddha that we saw (maybe we are getting to used to these things!).
That afternoon I got to play Rambo. We went out to a shooting range about 30km outside of town and got to fire an AK47 and then after that a 9mm. It was all over pretty quickly as 30 round for an AK47 cost $30 and the handgun was another $15 to fire. There was no mucking about either, after a 45 minute drive you arrive and then give you a menu, from $12 for one of the handguns to $200 for a rocket launcher(!). You point at one, they pick up the gun and one of the many magazines lying around in boxes. You then walk to the range shoot it and your done; no talking. I've not spent money so fast since I last went to Sky City.
After a couple of days in Phnom Penh it was time for a trip to the beach so the next morning we headed south to Sihanoukville, just a little bit nervous of the journey...
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Siem Reap to Phnom Penh
We learnt from our last big journey to avoid the roads of Cambodia, so we thought we'd get around that by catching a boat to Phnom Penh. It costs $25 instead of $9 on the bus but we figured it would be worth it to glide effortlessly down the river watching the world go by from our air conditioned luxury, arriving refreshed right in the centre of down town Phnom Penh 4 hours later.
We've now learnt to avoid the rivers too.
We read somewhere that they had stopped running these boats but tickets were on sale all over the place, so obviously they must be wrong. We also read that at some times of the year a smaller boat needs to ferry us out to the bigger boat as the water level is too low for the bigger boat to get into port. That was why we were not concerned as we stepped onto a crappy little long boat with 2 bench seats running either side and enough space for a dozen people. This was just to get us out to the bigger boat, right?
Wrong.
This was to be our transport for the next 5 hours. Through the torrential rain. Water pouring down our backs, and into our shorts. I'm writing this 5 days later and our rucksacks still aren't completely dry.
To make it worse it didn't take us to Phnom Penh; there was another 2 hours of bus journey to get us there after the boat.
On a positive note, we did get to see some awesome sights on the way, whole villages floating on the side of the road, complete with floating shops and a floating petrol station. The accomodation was basic, just a raft-like barge with a straw hut on top, although a lot of them appeared to have TVs in them!
When we finally made it to town we were mobbed by tuk-tuk drivers and people from guest houses (we're used to it now, although we both still dread it!). Lianne got a little bit angry, but we made it through. Eventually one of them offered us a free ride to a guest house that looked like our budget and we found our home for the next three days (for $5/night).
We've now learnt to avoid the rivers too.
We read somewhere that they had stopped running these boats but tickets were on sale all over the place, so obviously they must be wrong. We also read that at some times of the year a smaller boat needs to ferry us out to the bigger boat as the water level is too low for the bigger boat to get into port. That was why we were not concerned as we stepped onto a crappy little long boat with 2 bench seats running either side and enough space for a dozen people. This was just to get us out to the bigger boat, right?
Wrong.
This was to be our transport for the next 5 hours. Through the torrential rain. Water pouring down our backs, and into our shorts. I'm writing this 5 days later and our rucksacks still aren't completely dry.
To make it worse it didn't take us to Phnom Penh; there was another 2 hours of bus journey to get us there after the boat.
On a positive note, we did get to see some awesome sights on the way, whole villages floating on the side of the road, complete with floating shops and a floating petrol station. The accomodation was basic, just a raft-like barge with a straw hut on top, although a lot of them appeared to have TVs in them!
When we finally made it to town we were mobbed by tuk-tuk drivers and people from guest houses (we're used to it now, although we both still dread it!). Lianne got a little bit angry, but we made it through. Eventually one of them offered us a free ride to a guest house that looked like our budget and we found our home for the next three days (for $5/night).
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Siem Reap
After the arduous trip to Siem Reap we decided to relax the next day and spent it wandering around the town and watching cable TV in our luxurious hotel (well not bad for US$12/night).
We went for a walk along the Siem Reap river into the market area and solved one of the big issues for us - how to get money. We'd heard that there were no ATMs in Cambodia, but that's not the case, there are quite a few and they dispense US dollars. The US dollar is the de facto currency in Cambodia; the official currency is the Riel, but everything is priced in dollars, and the only time you really see Riel is when the change is less than $1. There are 4000 Riel to the dollar so if you buy something for $1.50 and give them $2 you get 2000 Riel in change. A bit bizarre but it seems to work.
So armed with a bundle of US$ we then went and got some cheap lunch and had a look around.
The place was surprisingly nice, although very westernised as this is a major tourist destination. Prices were about $3-4 for lunch, so still cheap, but not dirt cheap. Lots of choice and lots of really nice bars and restaurants.
Lianne had a very lazy afternoon after we went back to the hotel, she dozed whilst watching the finals of the Indonesian Badminton Super Series!
In the evening we went to a really cool bar that had free pool tables, soccer on the TV, Green Day on the stereo and 75c beers and $1.50 cocktails!
After dinner we headed home as we had an early start the following day to go see Angkor Wat.
We had arranged for a tuk-tuk driver to ferry us round for the day to see the temples of Angkor. $12 for the day.
When we woke up it was absolutely pissing down, we were a bit concerned at this as it was going to be a grim day if the weather continued like that, fortunately just after breakfast the weather broke and the rain stopped.
He picked us up at 7am and took us out to Angkor Wat. It is a very short journey out there (about 10mins on a slow tuk-tuk) and the first time you see it, it's pretty amazing. The Angkor ruins are built between 900 and 1300AD and are the temples and residences of the Camobian's of that time. They were only rediscovered in the late 1800's and some of the temples have been restored (others are still in ruins). Angkor Wat (pictured) is the most famous of these and has been restored the most out of all of them. We spent a couple of hours wandering around looking at all of the temples and pagoda's inside and all of the carvings that are in the stone. After Angkor Wat we went on to see bits of Angkor Thom (Bayon, Elephant Terraces, Terrace of the Leper King, and the old Royal Palace). After that we went on to see a few of the other smaller temples and also Ta Prohm which they have kept in it's original form from when they were rediscovered in the 1800's. All of the work they do there is to keep it safe so it doesn't fall on any unsuspecting tourists. Much of the stonework has collapsed and huge trees have grown through and on top of the stones which is a pretty amazing site to see also. About this time, the heaven's opened again and it was also just after 2pm so we decided to head home as we were a bit 'templed-out'. On the drive home, our poor tuk-tuk got a puncture and we were a bit concerned how we were going to get home. Luckily about 100m away was a puncture repair place (a man in a hut with a jack and a pump). Surprisingly, it all worked out and in another 10mins we were on our way again.
The evening was spent quietly in a restaurant in town and then home early (especially as Lianne now has a cold from being in the heat then the air conditioning constantly!). We also wanted a decent night's sleep as we were getting picked up at 5.50am for our boat trip to Phnom Penh...
We went for a walk along the Siem Reap river into the market area and solved one of the big issues for us - how to get money. We'd heard that there were no ATMs in Cambodia, but that's not the case, there are quite a few and they dispense US dollars. The US dollar is the de facto currency in Cambodia; the official currency is the Riel, but everything is priced in dollars, and the only time you really see Riel is when the change is less than $1. There are 4000 Riel to the dollar so if you buy something for $1.50 and give them $2 you get 2000 Riel in change. A bit bizarre but it seems to work.
So armed with a bundle of US$ we then went and got some cheap lunch and had a look around.
The place was surprisingly nice, although very westernised as this is a major tourist destination. Prices were about $3-4 for lunch, so still cheap, but not dirt cheap. Lots of choice and lots of really nice bars and restaurants.
Lianne had a very lazy afternoon after we went back to the hotel, she dozed whilst watching the finals of the Indonesian Badminton Super Series!
In the evening we went to a really cool bar that had free pool tables, soccer on the TV, Green Day on the stereo and 75c beers and $1.50 cocktails!
After dinner we headed home as we had an early start the following day to go see Angkor Wat.
We had arranged for a tuk-tuk driver to ferry us round for the day to see the temples of Angkor. $12 for the day.
When we woke up it was absolutely pissing down, we were a bit concerned at this as it was going to be a grim day if the weather continued like that, fortunately just after breakfast the weather broke and the rain stopped.
He picked us up at 7am and took us out to Angkor Wat. It is a very short journey out there (about 10mins on a slow tuk-tuk) and the first time you see it, it's pretty amazing. The Angkor ruins are built between 900 and 1300AD and are the temples and residences of the Camobian's of that time. They were only rediscovered in the late 1800's and some of the temples have been restored (others are still in ruins). Angkor Wat (pictured) is the most famous of these and has been restored the most out of all of them. We spent a couple of hours wandering around looking at all of the temples and pagoda's inside and all of the carvings that are in the stone. After Angkor Wat we went on to see bits of Angkor Thom (Bayon, Elephant Terraces, Terrace of the Leper King, and the old Royal Palace). After that we went on to see a few of the other smaller temples and also Ta Prohm which they have kept in it's original form from when they were rediscovered in the 1800's. All of the work they do there is to keep it safe so it doesn't fall on any unsuspecting tourists. Much of the stonework has collapsed and huge trees have grown through and on top of the stones which is a pretty amazing site to see also. About this time, the heaven's opened again and it was also just after 2pm so we decided to head home as we were a bit 'templed-out'. On the drive home, our poor tuk-tuk got a puncture and we were a bit concerned how we were going to get home. Luckily about 100m away was a puncture repair place (a man in a hut with a jack and a pump). Surprisingly, it all worked out and in another 10mins we were on our way again.
The evening was spent quietly in a restaurant in town and then home early (especially as Lianne now has a cold from being in the heat then the air conditioning constantly!). We also wanted a decent night's sleep as we were getting picked up at 5.50am for our boat trip to Phnom Penh...
Monday, May 14, 2007
Bangkok to Siem Reap
We were always concerned about this trip, we weren't sure about the visas and we didn't know what to expect in Cambodia. We certainly didn't expect what we got!
The previous evening we'd picked up our passports (good to see them again!) and in them were what looked like Cambodian visas - all good so far.
We were being picked up from the travel agent at 7:30am by some guy called Somphon(!?). This was the first hurdle passed. He took us to the end of the road and left us there with a handful of other people. We were a bit concerned now as there was no sign of a bus. 3o minutes later and a big bus turns up - another hurdle passed.
We got in the bus and headed off towards the border. This was all going so well, we were very chuffed.
We were quite skeptical about the whole thing as it was only costing us 300Bhat (NZ$12, GBP4) to travel about 400km from one country to another.
The bus trip to the border was great, nice bus and real easy drive (although it did rain torrentially). We arrived at a guest house 10 minutes from the border where you can sort out visas, although we'd already done ours so were feeling quite smug. Bit of lunch and we were all set to go.
I was feeling good at this point.
A short bus trip to the border and we all jump off and walk to the checkpoint (the bus doesn't go into Cambodia, we change onto another bus on the other side of the checkpoint).
The checkpoint leaving Thailand was very straightforward, just a couple of minutes then we walked out and across a bridge into Cambodia, There was another checkpoint on the Cambodian side that we had to clear but that just took 10 minutes of queueing and we were through that. The whole place didn't look very strict as the locals just seemed to wander straight past the checkpoint without a second glance. I think if you look a bit Thai and have no shoes you can just wander straight into the country without any passport at all.
This is where it started getting interesting. Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Asia and the tar-sealed road ended at the border. Just muddy tracks from here on. And did I mention it had just been raining. So mud everywhere and huge puddles of water. We got on a crappy looking bus but were told that this is only to ferry us to the bus terminal where we would get on the real bus for the rest of the journey. Once we had bounced the 2 kms to the bus station we got off the bus (avoiding the puddles by parking on the pavement) and transferred to a much, much worse bus. The seats were hardly padded, except for ours which had no padding, the windows rattled and air conditioning was called 'opening the windows and going fast'.
The guide told us that the roads would be very bumpy for the first 50km and then for the remaining 100km it would just be bumpy.
The journey of 150km took 7 hours of driving. The roads were little more than mud tracks, and it was 40kms in before I realised that they drove on the right in this country - we just spent our time zig-zagging down the road avoiding the bugger pot-holes with on coming vehicles passing either side of us.
Our comfort options were either windows open for cooling or windows closed for not getting mud sprayed in your face.
Once it got dark we had to stop regularly to clean the mud from the windscreen and lights so that the driver could see.
We eventually made it to Siem Reap at about 10pm (the last 5km were on luxurious tar-sealed roads). We found ourselves a nice hotel to stay at and we had a go and cleaning most of the mud and sweat off our bodies before we lay our bruised and battered bodies down for the night.
The previous evening we'd picked up our passports (good to see them again!) and in them were what looked like Cambodian visas - all good so far.
We were being picked up from the travel agent at 7:30am by some guy called Somphon(!?). This was the first hurdle passed. He took us to the end of the road and left us there with a handful of other people. We were a bit concerned now as there was no sign of a bus. 3o minutes later and a big bus turns up - another hurdle passed.
We got in the bus and headed off towards the border. This was all going so well, we were very chuffed.
We were quite skeptical about the whole thing as it was only costing us 300Bhat (NZ$12, GBP4) to travel about 400km from one country to another.
The bus trip to the border was great, nice bus and real easy drive (although it did rain torrentially). We arrived at a guest house 10 minutes from the border where you can sort out visas, although we'd already done ours so were feeling quite smug. Bit of lunch and we were all set to go.
I was feeling good at this point.
A short bus trip to the border and we all jump off and walk to the checkpoint (the bus doesn't go into Cambodia, we change onto another bus on the other side of the checkpoint).
The checkpoint leaving Thailand was very straightforward, just a couple of minutes then we walked out and across a bridge into Cambodia, There was another checkpoint on the Cambodian side that we had to clear but that just took 10 minutes of queueing and we were through that. The whole place didn't look very strict as the locals just seemed to wander straight past the checkpoint without a second glance. I think if you look a bit Thai and have no shoes you can just wander straight into the country without any passport at all.
This is where it started getting interesting. Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Asia and the tar-sealed road ended at the border. Just muddy tracks from here on. And did I mention it had just been raining. So mud everywhere and huge puddles of water. We got on a crappy looking bus but were told that this is only to ferry us to the bus terminal where we would get on the real bus for the rest of the journey. Once we had bounced the 2 kms to the bus station we got off the bus (avoiding the puddles by parking on the pavement) and transferred to a much, much worse bus. The seats were hardly padded, except for ours which had no padding, the windows rattled and air conditioning was called 'opening the windows and going fast'.
The guide told us that the roads would be very bumpy for the first 50km and then for the remaining 100km it would just be bumpy.
The journey of 150km took 7 hours of driving. The roads were little more than mud tracks, and it was 40kms in before I realised that they drove on the right in this country - we just spent our time zig-zagging down the road avoiding the bugger pot-holes with on coming vehicles passing either side of us.
Our comfort options were either windows open for cooling or windows closed for not getting mud sprayed in your face.
Once it got dark we had to stop regularly to clean the mud from the windscreen and lights so that the driver could see.
We eventually made it to Siem Reap at about 10pm (the last 5km were on luxurious tar-sealed roads). We found ourselves a nice hotel to stay at and we had a go and cleaning most of the mud and sweat off our bodies before we lay our bruised and battered bodies down for the night.
Bangkok
We arrived in the early, early morning a short walk from Khao San Road. After wandering around for about 15 minutes with a number of other backpackers in tow we eventually found the place. It's a relatively short street and was quite quiet at 5:30 in the morning (although the bars had plenty of people in them still going from last night). We tried a couple of hotels, Lianne was very keen to get one with a swimming pool and we ended up blowing the budget a little and we ended up paying 750Bhat/night for the room (NZ$30, GBP11). But it did have a pool on the roof and that was a godsend in the hot muggy atmosphere of Bangkok.
We had a few hours early morning kip to recover from the overnight trip then went out exploring.
We found Bangkok quite hard work, partly because it is so busy and full or people but mainly because almost all of the Thai people are complete tossers and out to rip you off (apologies to any Thais reading this, but it's true). On a number of occasions tuk-tuk drivers or passers by would lie to us and tell us to go in the opposite direction to where we should be going, I assume so that we'd get lost and confused and end up parting with some cash in order to sort ourselves out. Lots of people hassled us trying to sell us stuff and it became quite tedious after, say, 2 minutes.
The first day we went to the Grand Palace in the centre of Bangkok which was really nice. Lots of amazing temples and beautiful buildings. It was like an Asian St Pauls Cathedral and Buckingham Palace rolled into one.
That afternoon we booked our trip to Cambodia and arranged our Cambodian Visas. We had to give our passports to some random Thai person to do this, and given our current opinion of the Thais we were very scared.We cruised round looking at some of the sites and played a game of 10 pin bowling in the coolest bowling alley we've ever been to. We rounded off the night with a few beers and some food in Khao San.
The next day we slept in, went for a quick swim then caught the ferry down the river and had a wander around.
We went to a snake farm which was really good. Lianne hates snakes but loved the snake farm (I know not why). There were giant king cobras on show right in front of us (no glass or cages involved) - it was actually quite scary. Lianne got to touch some of the poisonous snakes (she was very brave!) and at the end we both had a snake wrapped around our necks.
After this we went to see the golden buddha, which is made of solid gold and weighs in at 3 1/2 tonnes! US$14m worth of gold alone. Unfortunately we weren't strong enough to carry it home, and anyway it would have cost more than that in excess baggage to get it to the UK.
That night we went exploring in Patpong road. They have some great night markets for hooky gear. Lianne bought a Welsh rugby jersey (would you believe it) for NZ$8. We also saw some other stuff that night involving ping pong balls, but in deference to Maurine and Aunty Betty who will be reading this we won't go into the details. But it was an eye opener!
After that we took a tuk-tuk home (bloody tuk-tuk drivers again - they wanted 300 Bhat to get us home and we ended up paying 100, and I still think we were ripped off).
The next morning was an early start for our bus to Cambodia...
We had a few hours early morning kip to recover from the overnight trip then went out exploring.
We found Bangkok quite hard work, partly because it is so busy and full or people but mainly because almost all of the Thai people are complete tossers and out to rip you off (apologies to any Thais reading this, but it's true). On a number of occasions tuk-tuk drivers or passers by would lie to us and tell us to go in the opposite direction to where we should be going, I assume so that we'd get lost and confused and end up parting with some cash in order to sort ourselves out. Lots of people hassled us trying to sell us stuff and it became quite tedious after, say, 2 minutes.
The first day we went to the Grand Palace in the centre of Bangkok which was really nice. Lots of amazing temples and beautiful buildings. It was like an Asian St Pauls Cathedral and Buckingham Palace rolled into one.
That afternoon we booked our trip to Cambodia and arranged our Cambodian Visas. We had to give our passports to some random Thai person to do this, and given our current opinion of the Thais we were very scared.We cruised round looking at some of the sites and played a game of 10 pin bowling in the coolest bowling alley we've ever been to. We rounded off the night with a few beers and some food in Khao San.
The next day we slept in, went for a quick swim then caught the ferry down the river and had a wander around.
We went to a snake farm which was really good. Lianne hates snakes but loved the snake farm (I know not why). There were giant king cobras on show right in front of us (no glass or cages involved) - it was actually quite scary. Lianne got to touch some of the poisonous snakes (she was very brave!) and at the end we both had a snake wrapped around our necks.
After this we went to see the golden buddha, which is made of solid gold and weighs in at 3 1/2 tonnes! US$14m worth of gold alone. Unfortunately we weren't strong enough to carry it home, and anyway it would have cost more than that in excess baggage to get it to the UK.
That night we went exploring in Patpong road. They have some great night markets for hooky gear. Lianne bought a Welsh rugby jersey (would you believe it) for NZ$8. We also saw some other stuff that night involving ping pong balls, but in deference to Maurine and Aunty Betty who will be reading this we won't go into the details. But it was an eye opener!
After that we took a tuk-tuk home (bloody tuk-tuk drivers again - they wanted 300 Bhat to get us home and we ended up paying 100, and I still think we were ripped off).
The next morning was an early start for our bus to Cambodia...
Sunday, May 13, 2007
From Koh Pha Ngan to Bangkok
We caught a minibus from the travel agent and it was a 30 minute ride to the ferry terminal where we boarder the ferry back to Surat Thani. The ferry trip was long (3 hours) but easy and when we got to Surat Thani we were then ushered into the back of one of the "minibuses" (more of a pickup with bench seats in the back and a roof over where you sit). Another crazy bit of driving took us to the where the coach would come to pick us up. It was about 5pm and the coach was due at 7pm which gave us time for some food and to watch another movie!
The coach arrived (just as the film was ending - good timing) and we got on. It was pretty comfortable, as good as you would get in NZ or UK, if not better. Double decker, toilet, air con and reclining seats.
The journey was long but we both slept through most of it (Lianne had a monster sleep of almost 8 hours!).
The coach was a little ahead of schedule and arrived in central Bangkok at around 5am. We woke from our sleep and dozily grabbed our bags and wandered off in search of somewhere to sleep...
The coach arrived (just as the film was ending - good timing) and we got on. It was pretty comfortable, as good as you would get in NZ or UK, if not better. Double decker, toilet, air con and reclining seats.
The journey was long but we both slept through most of it (Lianne had a monster sleep of almost 8 hours!).
The coach was a little ahead of schedule and arrived in central Bangkok at around 5am. We woke from our sleep and dozily grabbed our bags and wandered off in search of somewhere to sleep...
Koh Pha Ngan
We had a bit of a drama catching the bus to leave Koh Samui as we had hired mopeds the day before and I had put in my passport as a deposit. We turned up at 10:30 to return the mopeds and collect my passport ready to catch the 10:45 bus. Unfortunately the person who ran the shop was nowhere to be found (and hence, neither were our passports). We woke up some guy who appeared to sleep there and he phoned trying to find him. 15 minutes later and there was still no sign of our passports, but the bus had arrived. A bit of stalling and hoping later he turned up and we got onto the minibus apologising to everyone for holding them up.
The minibus driver made up for it by driving like a maniac to the port, although when we got there we sat around for about an hour waiting for the boat, so I don't know what all the fuss was about!
We then caught the boat for the short 30 minute trip from the north of Koh Samui to Koh Pha Ngan.
Once there we got on a minibus and travelled around to Haad Rin to find some accomodation. There was a reasonable looking place that we found right next to the bus drop off that we took for 350Bhat/night (NZ$14, 5GBP). We then took a look around Haad Rin.
The place was a lot smaller that Lamai in Koh Samui and it seem to be built around the Full Moon parties that are held there. Lots of bars and restaurants, and places in the streets selling "buckets" which are small ice buckets with a half bottle of spirit and a can or two of mixer for not very much at all (250-300 Bhat). The bars were all playing hooky copies of videos, we watched The Beach and Blood Diamond. I think one of them was playing Spiderman 3, which had only come out in the cinemas a few days before.
We then went down to the beach for a bit of a swim. The beach looked fantastic and the water clear and warm. We went in for a swim and after about 30 seconds we both felt small stings all over our bodies. We still don't know what they were, but maybe small jellyfish or sea lice. It wasn't very painful and there were no after effects, but it put us both off swimming.
We went back to the hotel for a shower, which was when we discovered that we had a shared bathroom. Unfortunately we were sharing it with several cockroaches. We killed a few but just had to put up with the others. There was a lot of girly screaming, and Lianne wasn't much better either.
It started to rain that night and we were wondering if we should stay in, when it was decided for us when all the power went out. We left and wandered down the main street where pretty much everywhere was blacked out. We ended up in a bar with a generator for dinner and eventually the power came back.
I had been planning to go to Koh Tao and do some diving but we were umming and ahing about it and when we looked into it we couldn't find anywhere that would do a day trip to the island, only places that we needed to stay overnight for.
We decided to head off to Bangkok the next morning. Our impression of Koh Pha Ngan weren't great, I think if you like drink a lot (and I mean a lot) and you're into your unce unce music then it could be great. We also heard some good stories of beach resorts that can only be reached by boat, not by land. However the brief bit we saw was unimpressive and we were quite keen to leave.
The next morning we got up, had breakfast and booked our travel to Bangkok. It was a boat and coach, leaving at noon and getting into Bangkok at 6am the next morning. We were not looking forward to the journey...
The minibus driver made up for it by driving like a maniac to the port, although when we got there we sat around for about an hour waiting for the boat, so I don't know what all the fuss was about!
We then caught the boat for the short 30 minute trip from the north of Koh Samui to Koh Pha Ngan.
Once there we got on a minibus and travelled around to Haad Rin to find some accomodation. There was a reasonable looking place that we found right next to the bus drop off that we took for 350Bhat/night (NZ$14, 5GBP). We then took a look around Haad Rin.
The place was a lot smaller that Lamai in Koh Samui and it seem to be built around the Full Moon parties that are held there. Lots of bars and restaurants, and places in the streets selling "buckets" which are small ice buckets with a half bottle of spirit and a can or two of mixer for not very much at all (250-300 Bhat). The bars were all playing hooky copies of videos, we watched The Beach and Blood Diamond. I think one of them was playing Spiderman 3, which had only come out in the cinemas a few days before.
We then went down to the beach for a bit of a swim. The beach looked fantastic and the water clear and warm. We went in for a swim and after about 30 seconds we both felt small stings all over our bodies. We still don't know what they were, but maybe small jellyfish or sea lice. It wasn't very painful and there were no after effects, but it put us both off swimming.
We went back to the hotel for a shower, which was when we discovered that we had a shared bathroom. Unfortunately we were sharing it with several cockroaches. We killed a few but just had to put up with the others. There was a lot of girly screaming, and Lianne wasn't much better either.
It started to rain that night and we were wondering if we should stay in, when it was decided for us when all the power went out. We left and wandered down the main street where pretty much everywhere was blacked out. We ended up in a bar with a generator for dinner and eventually the power came back.
I had been planning to go to Koh Tao and do some diving but we were umming and ahing about it and when we looked into it we couldn't find anywhere that would do a day trip to the island, only places that we needed to stay overnight for.
We decided to head off to Bangkok the next morning. Our impression of Koh Pha Ngan weren't great, I think if you like drink a lot (and I mean a lot) and you're into your unce unce music then it could be great. We also heard some good stories of beach resorts that can only be reached by boat, not by land. However the brief bit we saw was unimpressive and we were quite keen to leave.
The next morning we got up, had breakfast and booked our travel to Bangkok. It was a boat and coach, leaving at noon and getting into Bangkok at 6am the next morning. We were not looking forward to the journey...
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Koh Samui
Once we made it to Koh Samui things really started to look up. We got a local bus/taxi thing from Na Thong where the ferry arrives to Lamai on the other side of the island. This was only THB50 (NZ$2, 70p) and it was the same as the locals were paying (we were the only foreigners on the bus). This was the first time in Thailand where we didn't feel we were getting ripped off!
Once there we wandered up and down for 10 minutes before settling on a nice place that was basic and cheap (THB350/night - NZ$14, GBP5).
Once there we walked to the beach - which took all of 20 seconds. We went for a swim in the beautiful warm water and then cooled off with a beer and a pad thai on table and chairs on the sand. We really felt like we were on holiday now!
That night we went exploring around the small town of Lamai going to a few of the bars and exploring the night markets.
The next day was really lazy and we loved it, a bit of beach, swimming, exploring, eating, reading and more swimming. We really like it here.
The following day was more active; we hired scooters for THB180 each (NZ$7, GBP2.50!) and circumnavigated the whole island. Our navigation skills were not the best so it took us 3 hours to travel the first 10km, but it got better from there on in.
We went to see the other big resort, Chaweng, the Big Buddha and Na Thon, the capital of the island.
The highlight of the day was going to the waterfall at Na Muang (apart from Lianne falling off the rocks). We went for a swim under the waterfall and then the elephants came up the river to be washed by their keepers (there are elephant tours run from the same area). When we came to leave we jumped on our scooters but watched as the elephants were all paraded down the road back to where they are kept overnight. This looked amazing and we took plenty of photographs as they paraded by. We loved it until we realised that they were going down the same road that we were about to go down. We now had the enviable task of overtaking elephants on our scooters on a very narrow road.
If you ever have to do this yourself here are our top tips for elephant overtaking:
- Go slow, do not rev your engine
- Give them plenty of room as their huge trunks and tusks swing about a bit
- Do not make eye contact!
- Treat them as if you were overtaking a rider on horseback, but with much greater respect for their nose and teeth
Lianne said that she has never been so scared! It was so cool we hardly noticed overtaking the water buffalo 5 minutes later!
The next morning we packed up our stuff and headed of to Koh Pangan but with very fond memories of Koh Samui.
Once there we wandered up and down for 10 minutes before settling on a nice place that was basic and cheap (THB350/night - NZ$14, GBP5).
Once there we walked to the beach - which took all of 20 seconds. We went for a swim in the beautiful warm water and then cooled off with a beer and a pad thai on table and chairs on the sand. We really felt like we were on holiday now!
That night we went exploring around the small town of Lamai going to a few of the bars and exploring the night markets.
The next day was really lazy and we loved it, a bit of beach, swimming, exploring, eating, reading and more swimming. We really like it here.
The following day was more active; we hired scooters for THB180 each (NZ$7, GBP2.50!) and circumnavigated the whole island. Our navigation skills were not the best so it took us 3 hours to travel the first 10km, but it got better from there on in.
We went to see the other big resort, Chaweng, the Big Buddha and Na Thon, the capital of the island.
The highlight of the day was going to the waterfall at Na Muang (apart from Lianne falling off the rocks). We went for a swim under the waterfall and then the elephants came up the river to be washed by their keepers (there are elephant tours run from the same area). When we came to leave we jumped on our scooters but watched as the elephants were all paraded down the road back to where they are kept overnight. This looked amazing and we took plenty of photographs as they paraded by. We loved it until we realised that they were going down the same road that we were about to go down. We now had the enviable task of overtaking elephants on our scooters on a very narrow road.
If you ever have to do this yourself here are our top tips for elephant overtaking:
- Go slow, do not rev your engine
- Give them plenty of room as their huge trunks and tusks swing about a bit
- Do not make eye contact!
- Treat them as if you were overtaking a rider on horseback, but with much greater respect for their nose and teeth
Lianne said that she has never been so scared! It was so cool we hardly noticed overtaking the water buffalo 5 minutes later!
The next morning we packed up our stuff and headed of to Koh Pangan but with very fond memories of Koh Samui.
Surat Thani
We figured out what happens with the trains now. You get on and all the seats are as per usual then at about 9 o'clock a man comes around and turns them into beds. This was good as we didn't have to try and sleep from about 2:30pm (although Lianne still did!).
The train got to Surat Thani (the stopping off point for Koh Samui) at about 12 midnight. It was all a bit stressful as the train station is in the middle of nowhere and the only people at the station were sleazy looking "taxi" drivers. We were the only foreigners who got off the train at that station as well, which worried us a little too. The taxi driver "recommended" a hotel and we knew we were going to get ripped off. We suggested another, cheaper one, and he took us there but they just said "no" when we asked if there were any rooms - we don't think round eyes were welcome at that place! We ended up at the hotel he originally suggested which was a little bit more than we wanted to spend but still not expensive.
In the morning we got up and explored Surat Thani a little - there's not much there at all. We then set off for the pier to catch the ferry to Koh Samui. After a couple of abortive attempts to catch a bus and a taxi there we ended up going back to our hotel and getting them to sort it out for us. We were trying to be really budget but we were just making hard work for ourselves! We've learnt to just pay the extra 100Bhat and make it all nice and easy.
From there on in it became nice and easy, if typically chaotic in a typical Thai way. Minibus to bus station to another minibus, no wait, get off that one and on to another one, drive real fast to the pier then wait around then onto the ferry. 2 1/2 hours later we arrived at Koh Samui.
The train got to Surat Thani (the stopping off point for Koh Samui) at about 12 midnight. It was all a bit stressful as the train station is in the middle of nowhere and the only people at the station were sleazy looking "taxi" drivers. We were the only foreigners who got off the train at that station as well, which worried us a little too. The taxi driver "recommended" a hotel and we knew we were going to get ripped off. We suggested another, cheaper one, and he took us there but they just said "no" when we asked if there were any rooms - we don't think round eyes were welcome at that place! We ended up at the hotel he originally suggested which was a little bit more than we wanted to spend but still not expensive.
In the morning we got up and explored Surat Thani a little - there's not much there at all. We then set off for the pier to catch the ferry to Koh Samui. After a couple of abortive attempts to catch a bus and a taxi there we ended up going back to our hotel and getting them to sort it out for us. We were trying to be really budget but we were just making hard work for ourselves! We've learnt to just pay the extra 100Bhat and make it all nice and easy.
From there on in it became nice and easy, if typically chaotic in a typical Thai way. Minibus to bus station to another minibus, no wait, get off that one and on to another one, drive real fast to the pier then wait around then onto the ferry. 2 1/2 hours later we arrived at Koh Samui.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Penang
We spent a a couple more days in KL with nothing much to note other than finally making it up the Petronas Twin Towers (not to the top, just to the bridge between the two, which is still pretty cool).
On Wednesday night we caught the night train from Kl to Butterworth, we had a sleeper bed which was actually quite comfortable and doubled as a night's accomodation not bad for RM38 (NZ$15, GBP 6).
Butterworth is on the mainland and it's a short ferry journey across to Penang island and it's main city of Georgetown. It is, apparently, Malaysia's second largest city, however it is a world away from KL. Where KL has a shiny new subway system to get you around, Georgetown has rickety buses, none of which seem to be less than 30 years old.
There's not much to do here but we did take a trip out to Kek Lok Si temple which was very impressive, although incredibly commercialised. In order to get to the temple you have to walk past dozens of stalls selling knocked off Harry Potter T-shirts and Beckham tops.
We stayed in a very budget hostel and we leave today for Ko Samui which we are both quite excited about as it will be our first proper beach part to the holiday. Bit nervous about how we are going to get there as we are catching a train that leaves at 2:20pm and arrives into Surat Thani at 11:30pm ish and the last boat to Ko Samui leaves at 11pm. We'll figure it out.
Oddly the train we are catching is a sleeper, even though we leave in the middle of the afternoon. I'll let you know what the go is with that in the next blog.
On Wednesday night we caught the night train from Kl to Butterworth, we had a sleeper bed which was actually quite comfortable and doubled as a night's accomodation not bad for RM38 (NZ$15, GBP 6).
Butterworth is on the mainland and it's a short ferry journey across to Penang island and it's main city of Georgetown. It is, apparently, Malaysia's second largest city, however it is a world away from KL. Where KL has a shiny new subway system to get you around, Georgetown has rickety buses, none of which seem to be less than 30 years old.
There's not much to do here but we did take a trip out to Kek Lok Si temple which was very impressive, although incredibly commercialised. In order to get to the temple you have to walk past dozens of stalls selling knocked off Harry Potter T-shirts and Beckham tops.
We stayed in a very budget hostel and we leave today for Ko Samui which we are both quite excited about as it will be our first proper beach part to the holiday. Bit nervous about how we are going to get there as we are catching a train that leaves at 2:20pm and arrives into Surat Thani at 11:30pm ish and the last boat to Ko Samui leaves at 11pm. We'll figure it out.
Oddly the train we are catching is a sleeper, even though we leave in the middle of the afternoon. I'll let you know what the go is with that in the next blog.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Kuala Lumpur
We haven't actually done very much here, so it's difficult to know what to say...
We're staying with my mate Pete and his free internet and a 40"LCD TV and a swimming pool, so we shall try not to over exert ourselves.
We travelled up on Sunday from Singapore to KL, which is a 7 hour train journey (but only 325km, so not exactly a fast train). The trains are very comfortable and at only S$34 (NZ$30/GBP11) it was pretty cheap.
Pete picked us up at the station and on the way back we had time to grab a sandwich and get my ATM card eaten. Only 4 days into the trip and we were already one bank card down, so that didn't look so good.
That evening we went out for a nice Italian meal (soaking up the local culture you see...) and a few glasses of wine with Pete, Uma and a couple of their friends.
Monday was a late start (which we understand to be standard for most shops in Malaysia) and first stop was the bank to try and get my card back. Well, first stop was actually Mickey Ds - more local culture you see. With no card yet, we headed off to see if we could go up the KL towers. The good news was that they did free tours up the towers, the bad news was they did it every day except Monday. Arse.
After a therapeutic cup of tea and some chocolate we headed off home, however this was harder than we thought as we failed to find the train station after we left the KL towers (we later discovered that the train station is in the KL towers, so not so smart there).
Back at the apartment the good news was that my ATM card had been located so a quick trip to the bank and we were all good. Celebrated by a quick dip in the apartment complex's pool.
That night the four of us headed down the road for some traditional Indian-Malaysian food, which was essentially Indian food but with some noodles. Very nice though, and not bad for RM25 for all four of us (NZ$10/GBP3.60)!
We rounded the evening off with a reflexology massage for the girls and vast amounts of gin for the boys (as you do!).
We're staying with my mate Pete and his free internet and a 40"LCD TV and a swimming pool, so we shall try not to over exert ourselves.
We travelled up on Sunday from Singapore to KL, which is a 7 hour train journey (but only 325km, so not exactly a fast train). The trains are very comfortable and at only S$34 (NZ$30/GBP11) it was pretty cheap.
Pete picked us up at the station and on the way back we had time to grab a sandwich and get my ATM card eaten. Only 4 days into the trip and we were already one bank card down, so that didn't look so good.
That evening we went out for a nice Italian meal (soaking up the local culture you see...) and a few glasses of wine with Pete, Uma and a couple of their friends.
Monday was a late start (which we understand to be standard for most shops in Malaysia) and first stop was the bank to try and get my card back. Well, first stop was actually Mickey Ds - more local culture you see. With no card yet, we headed off to see if we could go up the KL towers. The good news was that they did free tours up the towers, the bad news was they did it every day except Monday. Arse.
After a therapeutic cup of tea and some chocolate we headed off home, however this was harder than we thought as we failed to find the train station after we left the KL towers (we later discovered that the train station is in the KL towers, so not so smart there).
Back at the apartment the good news was that my ATM card had been located so a quick trip to the bank and we were all good. Celebrated by a quick dip in the apartment complex's pool.
That night the four of us headed down the road for some traditional Indian-Malaysian food, which was essentially Indian food but with some noodles. Very nice though, and not bad for RM25 for all four of us (NZ$10/GBP3.60)!
We rounded the evening off with a reflexology massage for the girls and vast amounts of gin for the boys (as you do!).
Singapore
So we left on the 26th on a 10 1/2 hour flight from Auckland to Singapore. I laughed in the face of a measly 10 1/2 hour flight, it was barely enough time to watch four movies, all of which were a little bit disappointing (maybe I've coined a new collective noun, "a disappointment of movies").
We managed to come by some free accommodation in Singapore via Pete's girlfriend Uma who has an apartment there that she wasn't using. We made it to her place at about 10pm and crashed out.
The next day we were up early and jumped on the train to head towards Singapore Zoo. The public transport system in Singapore is very good, although a little bit more complicated than we thought. 30 minutes of wandering around looking for our bus eventually got us heading in the right direction and we got to the Zoo about 10:30.
It's a pretty big zoo and very open with few cages. At times you feel like some of the apes and monkeys could fall down right on top of you and it felt like you were in the enclosure with them.
We particularly liked the baboons, the Komodo dragons and the elephant show.
Just as we were about done the heavens opened and one of those regular thunderstorms swept in and it p*ssed down for about 1 1/2 hours. We caught the bus into town and decided to get our train ticket for Singapore to KL. This was harder than we thought as MasterCard wasn't accepted at the train station and the nearest ATM was another 15 minutes walk back from where we came!
After this we headed back to the apartment and then out to some local outdoor eatery for some fried rice, prawns and a very big bottle of Tiger beer.
The next day was spent exploring Singapore city, particularly Chinatown, Little India, the Arab Quarter and the waterfront area. As this was done all on foot we were pretty sore by the end of it all.
The food here can be very cheap and I have to admit to feeling a bit guilty when I sat down in a coffee shop and bought a $4 cup of tea when I'd just walked past a restaurant selling a $2 meal!
That evening we went back to the same place for dinner (and another very big Tiger beer) before bed. An early night as we needed to be at the train station by 8am for our train to KL.
We managed to come by some free accommodation in Singapore via Pete's girlfriend Uma who has an apartment there that she wasn't using. We made it to her place at about 10pm and crashed out.
The next day we were up early and jumped on the train to head towards Singapore Zoo. The public transport system in Singapore is very good, although a little bit more complicated than we thought. 30 minutes of wandering around looking for our bus eventually got us heading in the right direction and we got to the Zoo about 10:30.
It's a pretty big zoo and very open with few cages. At times you feel like some of the apes and monkeys could fall down right on top of you and it felt like you were in the enclosure with them.
We particularly liked the baboons, the Komodo dragons and the elephant show.
Just as we were about done the heavens opened and one of those regular thunderstorms swept in and it p*ssed down for about 1 1/2 hours. We caught the bus into town and decided to get our train ticket for Singapore to KL. This was harder than we thought as MasterCard wasn't accepted at the train station and the nearest ATM was another 15 minutes walk back from where we came!
After this we headed back to the apartment and then out to some local outdoor eatery for some fried rice, prawns and a very big bottle of Tiger beer.
The next day was spent exploring Singapore city, particularly Chinatown, Little India, the Arab Quarter and the waterfront area. As this was done all on foot we were pretty sore by the end of it all.
The food here can be very cheap and I have to admit to feeling a bit guilty when I sat down in a coffee shop and bought a $4 cup of tea when I'd just walked past a restaurant selling a $2 meal!
That evening we went back to the same place for dinner (and another very big Tiger beer) before bed. An early night as we needed to be at the train station by 8am for our train to KL.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
On our way...
It's nearly 11am on 26th April and we fly off in just a few hours. Our bags are packed and suprisingly small but heavy and we are fully equiped for the flight with books, cakes and Uno cards to occupy us during take off and landing (times where my ipod shuffle would cause the $20 million dollar plane to fall out of the sky - wait til Usama finds out about that...)
Our itinary is:
New Zealand -> Singapore -> Malaysia -> Thailand -> Cambodia -> Vietnam -> Laos -> Thailand -> Singapore
but that's just the plan, who know's what will actually happen. You'll just have to wait for the next exciting episode of etc, etc...
Our itinary is:
New Zealand -> Singapore -> Malaysia -> Thailand -> Cambodia -> Vietnam -> Laos -> Thailand -> Singapore
but that's just the plan, who know's what will actually happen. You'll just have to wait for the next exciting episode of etc, etc...
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